I feel it, too
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: Drabble. Arthur, Lucius, and a cauldron full of books. Epilogue compliant. NOT SLASH.


**I feel it, too**

A HariPo drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _Harry Potter_ characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. Here's to another random idea from me…just roll with it. Read, review, and enjoy!

- ^-^3

He knew who'd arrived before he'd even heard their voices. Lucius Malfoy frowned and rounded the corner, books being the only thought on his mind.

"_I_ want new copies," a girl stated.

"Don't be selfish, Rose," a boy retorted. "We can save some money by buying used."

Rose growled at him. "Hush up, Al. I want my books to last a long time. And it's not as though we can't afford them, what with our parents practically running every part of magical law enforcement."

Lucius, in the meantime, groaned when he felt a tug on his leg. "Grandfather, are we done yet?" Scorpius asked. "Father said we could get ice cream if we hurried up."

"And what did your mother say about that?" Lucius asked as he scanned his grandson's list and placed another book in his cauldron.

Scorpius grinned. "Mother and Grandmother are bickering about potion supplies while Aunt Daph is grabbing what I need. Ice cream's just for us men."

He looked proud of himself, and Lucius couldn't fight a tiny, proud smirk from gracing his lips. Lucius placed one more tome in Scorpius' cauldron and rested a hand on the boy's head. "All right. Go find your father and have him pay, and we'll grab ice cream while the others are distracted."

"Yes, Grandfather!"

Lucius watched Scorpius scamper off while he finished looking at the shelves. He rounded another corner, but he bumped into someone this time. The wizard took one glimpse—red hair and glasses—and pursed his lips. "Weasley."

Arthur did a double-take before his expression slightly soured. "Malfoy."

"That time of year again."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "It is." He looked past Lucius, at the counter. "You have a grandson."

"I do." Lucius sniffed as a crimson-haired girl and a little Potter-lookalike approached Arthur, took one look at Lucius, and backed off. "Still an ever-growing brood, I see."

Arthur shrugged, but he fixed Lucius with a stare. "You don't have any more of Voldemort's things to stick in my family's cauldrons, do you?"

Lucius snarled. "Why, you—"

"…yeah, talking to Malfoy's dad…"

Both wizards glanced to the side, where they could see Rose and Al pointing their way. Molly, Hermione, and Ginny looked on with apprehension.

"Everything's fine," Arthur assured part of his family. "Just exchanging a…hello." That's right, just a hello, because there was nothing friendly about it.

The witches exchanged a look before ushering the kids down an aisle, and Lucius watched as an even younger girl with garnet hair and an even younger boy with light orange hair pulled up the rear, following Granger and the Weaslette like baby hippogriffs.

Arthur turned back to Lucius. "I suppose old habits die hard, eh?"

"Indeed," Lucius curtly replied.

"But…in the end," Arthur continued, "family matters most." He raised his eyebrows.

"I chose my son over _him_."

Arthur said nothing.

"I didn't run from battle because I was a coward. I wanted to live. I wanted my son to grow up and have a life and a family—I didn't want for him what I'd done for myself. I—" Lucius shut up, the words "made a mistake" on the tip of his tongue. Suddenly, the scars on his left arms from where he'd had the Dark Mark removed ached. "In the end, I realized that the cause wasn't everything."

Still Arthur said nothing, and it irked Lucius. Lucius was about to make a snarky remark when Arthur opened his mouth and said, "I think you've finally matured, Lucius."

The Malfoy grimaced.

"You seem to understand that blood matters—without it having to be pure." Arthur watched two of his grandchildren chat animatedly, and he smiled. "I think you, like me, would do anything for his family."

Lucius snorted. "Me, share the same mindset as you?"

Arthur chuckled. "I knew you'd agree. I feel the same, Lucius." He held out his hand.

Somewhat reluctantly, Lucius shook it. "Good day, Weasley."

"The same to you, Malfoy."

Lucius caught up with Draco and Scorpius outside Flourish and Blotts, and the thought struck him that maybe it hadn't been all that bad, running into Arthur Weasley…no, Weasleys were still abhorrent.

But family…family was not.

- ^-^3

**A random idea I had a while ago…wrote it while beginning to feel sick, typed it while I was sick, and posted it while starting not to feel sick anymore. So, how'd I do in my delusions? *lol***

**Thanks for reading, and please review!**

**-mew-tsubaki :]**


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